gearinggear·ing /ˈgɪərɪŋˈgɪr-/ (also capital gearing) noun [uncountableU] British EnglishBrEFINANCE the amount of borrowing that a company has in relation to its SHARE CAPITAL. If the company makes more profit by investing this borrowed money in its business activities than it pays to lenders in interest, the company’s shareholders will obtain higher DIVIDENDs (=payments from their shares) than they would without the use of borrowed money. But if the company makes less profit by investing this borrowed money in its business activities than it pays to lenders in interest, dividends will be lower, so high gearing involves a higher degree of riskSYN LEVERAGEThe company has cut gearing to between 40% and 50% from approximately 80% over the past two years.
We have a target - to lower our gearing to the 1:1 level.
With higher levels of capital gearing, debt service payments stood at record levels.